I'm going to head off to the magic market, and look for a gun...
The market is packed as usual. Man, do these stallholders even sleep?
Guns, eh? Wub fur and golden fleece microweave armour, no... reality-altering drugs, no... triple-distilled tree spirits, no... turtle cult evangelists, no... Aha!
The
gunfamer's stall is a wide ring of tables, loaded with gleaming and often insane weapons in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some of the firearms on offer are completely ridiculous... RPGs with small arms attached... grenade launchers made for slinging across one's torso the size of a teenager... crazy. Likely rather expensive, and, well, alive.
The
thrift stall is selling a bunch of manky small-brand handguns, with one dubious glock. Some of the pistols date back to the first world war, from the look of things.
An enthusiastic man whose stall is labelled simply "
artifact procurer" offers to procure guns, among other things, from alternate dimensions. The "no refunds" sign is only slightly smaller than the stall itself. His customers come in several shapes and sizes, all of which look pretty desperate, even the slime mold. Many walk off confused or angry, but a reasonable number look relieved or even exulted, carrying weird and rare looking things.
Or you could look for
even more stalls, if none of these appeal.
Go ahead and clot up the edgy katana as a staff.
Stacking magic effects, eh? Given that the katana is somewhat unreal (magical construct), and already a bit affected by magic, this won't be a very powerful weapon compared to, say, pretty much anything else you'd stumble across. Your call; maybe a showy and weak weapon is appropriate.
welp, let's be practical about this and allocate it to practicality. Then,try to tell if he's a normal or a magical. Tell him that some people in odd armor went up, started harassing a man, and then lit the building on fire while fighting with each other with some sort of explosive. Say that I don't know anything about gunshots or stab wounds, since to be fair I didn't actually get to stab anyone and obviously didn't have a gun. Ask them how bad the burns I suffered were.
The serviceman doesn't seem to have any magical powers.
While he believes you, he still wants to know what you were doing there. He's also curious about why you staggered out of the building wearing several pounds of scrap metal on your back, and what you were doing with a switchblade and half a car door in an apartment building that had nothing to do with you.
The doctor brings in a mirror so you can see your burns. They're... not pretty. Your face is just about recognisable beneath several scars. Thanks to natural magic and new technology, they're fading to thick and jagged white stripes across your face, but you're still permenantly disfigured, your temples contorted and lips constantly sneering.
Aw, no stat point or rune?
I mean, I suppose that surviving with only a lost leg is its own reward, but still.
Also, did I have that -3 to agility before the accident?
Pick up a tupperware container and fill it with the toad mucus and some battery acid. Turn it into a chalice.
Try to make a pegleg for myself, preferably out of a broom so that I can enchant it as one later.
Also, tell our boss the whole truth (and nothing but the truth) about what happened on the mission (from my perspective).
No, you did not.
Pegleg, hm? Clever...
Practicality: 2+3
You manage to tie Vince's only broom to your stump. It's awkard to walk on, and anyone who sees you will wonder why you're using a wooden broom as a peg-leg, but it'll do. Perhaps an iron cleaning implement might be more durable. You fall over a lot practicing, but can stumble along alright.
We'll assume Goethe or someone is kind enough to buy you a battery while you relearn to walk.
Going out into Vince's yard, you artfully extract the liquids in the battery and pour them into some of Vince's tupperware. The container will probably have an effect on your summon, just in case you weren't sure. If that changes things, you can do the initial summoning next turn.
You explain the details of the mission through the locked door. It's impossible to judge how Vince feels about your account.
Name: Nanami Adachi. (Nanami)
Backstory: Somewhat socially awkward and marginalized through her life, Nanami looks to use magic to fuel her ambitions through social manipulation and fame.
Physical description: 18 year old young Japanese woman.
Puissance: 0
Ritual: 0
Runic Sight: 0
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 0
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 2
Right, we'll assume you ask Vince about the demonic deal and he sends you to Amdukias, the hellspawn in charge of the UK media. A meeting with Moloch (to mortals, Murdoch) would have been better, but one of his demonic subordinates will be sufficient.
Next to the towering glass Shard crackling with divine fire and lightening, the squat News Building is a series of shifting mirrors and panes of glass. In the presence of a magical adept, they smoothly roll aside, exposing a receding and dimly lit cavern. You ignore the mortal entrance and walk straight in, heading for whatever dug the tunnel. You pass by quite a few demons. Just about every animal body part, agricultural implement and weapon you've ever seen is put to use in their irregular anatomies. After what feels like hours of walking, you reach a waiting room at the end of the tunnel. Plainly decorated, walls an artful cream and windows looking out onto hard-packed dirt, it contains rows of mostly empty chairs. A few other magical humans sit around, refusing to meet your eye.
The secretary consists of a handsome human woman from the waist up, and a sleek many-limbed squid-thing below, the numerous appendages of which end in elegant styluses, gloves and digital devices. It'd be a pretty classy look if the human part was still alive. She (it?) camly notes your request and schedules you in for a meeting. An interminable amonut of time later, she waves you through a door at the opposite end of the room.
The first thing you see rotting horse head fifty feet long with a twenty foot broadcasting antennae thrust outwards through the bloodied forehead.
You stand on a metal scaffold above fathomless depths. Anything below the head is lost in smoke and shadow, save for the gigantic white human arm upon which it rests. The expansive walls stretching away above and below are made from thousands of speakers, constantly whispering and playing soft, off-key music. With a voice that nearly throws you from the platform, Amdukias asks what you wanted. The sounds comes from all around you.
You explain your request carefully and clearly. The demon king considers for a while, and then nods. A sheet of paper flutters down into your hands, and you examine it.
Firstly, you are given special permission to make permenant holes in the barrier of perception between the mortal world and the magical one.
Secondly, you have the right and ability to act as a god does, in harvesting power from the activities of mortals that consitute worship. In this case, you gain power from the viewing of media you produce documenting your exploits in the magical world.
Thirdly, you gain aspects and magical priviliges from the belief of mortals that you have those aspects and priviliges. This is similar to the position of congregatin-dependent gods.
Fourthly, you are entitled to any one of the following:
- Possession of a banal weapon of your choice, not exceeding the power of a rocket launcher.
- The answers to any six questions you may ask within the powers of the brilliant Paimon.
- Inhuman skill in the art of seduction as granted to the succubi and incubi of hell.
- Three chances to call upon the imps of hell to do your bidding.
Fifthly, you will be paid £300 in mortal money.
The second party, Amdukias, is entitled to half of any power you gain.
They are also entitled to one of the three options below (please choose one):
- Frequent sacrifices of increasingly powerful sentient or magical beings, without which any profits on the part of the first party will be temporarily frozen. Sacrifice will not be considered valid without full invocation of Amdukias.
- Partial conscription into the twenty-ninth legion of Amdukias, in which specific tasks may be set and must be carried out by the first party. Failure may result in the freezing of any profits, noncompliance with corporal or incorporeal punishment.
- The full shifting of the first party's soul into the realm of the demonic, whereupon he will be twisted into a demon according to his nature unless he fulfils a chosen one of the two above options. The total loss of the first party's humanity can be considered as the end of any volition on their part.
The first party also bears a general moral obligation towards the second to carry out the works of hell and to work for the eventual damnation of all humanity. No retribution can be taken for failure to fulfil this obligation, but compliance may result in increased opportunities.
Time to make a choice. A quill pen and a scapel clink into existence on at your feet. Signing in blood it is.
There are never enough IT guys. Especially not competent ones...
Well anyway, time to think.
Does Vince have any old hardware around I could rummage through?
((One bolded post per turn please. If necessary, edit older posts.))
Vince has a collection of outdated electronics in his attic. You rummage through it a little, then jump backwards as all the screens flash on.
"Hi! Hi! Haven't seen another Computer Seance expert in a while! Konrad von Ammenhausen at your service! I'm Vince's IT guy!"
The excited figure on the cracked and static-y screens is dressed in the habit of a monk, as far as you can make out.
"You're new here, right? If you need help with anything, just ask! Anywhere in the house! You want old electronics? I know a dump where you can find dead computers! Lots and lots of dead computers!"
He seems pretty friendly.
"Got to go help Vince build a map now! Good luck!"
Name: Nanami Adachi. (Nanami)
Puissance: 0
Ritual: 0
Runic Sight: 0
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 0
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 2
Inventory: £50
{Belial Certificate handed in for greater deal}
Puissance: 5/5 - temporary
Puissant Clots: 2 - temporary
Bob Howard
Puissant fettle - 1
Ritual potency - 1
Runic sight - 1
Banal combat - 0
Practicality - 3
Inventory: £50, 1d20
{Certificate from Belial; Valid for one Potent Medium}
Puissance: 5/5
Puissant Clots: 2
Goethe T. Helle
Puissant fettle - 1
Ritual potency - 2
Runic sight - 1
Banal combat - 0
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 2
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £25, clockface minus one hand, highlighter pens, two kitchen knives, empty molasses jar. Italian Dinner suit, half-empty cologne bottle
From the beast: one bone,
[Dog Collar Pendant][Molasses Clockhand Wand]
[Icecream Beast Blood Fur Chalice][Beast Remains Wand]
Runes:
Isolation: you never had many friends or allies, so are used to poor odds. +1 to rolls when outnumbered and alone.
Stoicism: a rune that calms those dealing with shock, tragedy or injury.
Perseverance: despite all the odds, you managed to kill a huge beast using nothing but hot syrup. Bonus to attack and extra damage to powerful or resistant enemies after several turns of combat or aggression.
Dwarven Weapon Storage: learned from a dwarf carrying a small armoury on his back. Increases load of weapons and tools that can be borne without being hampered or slowed down, or collapsing outright.
Ruination: when written, it makes a bad situation worse, and an irretrievable one more so. Learned after the second mission.
Puissant clots: 1
Puissance: 6/6
Name: Ellen York
Has a few teeth embedded in forehead. Blood on face.
Puissant fettle: 1
Runic sight: 1
Banal combat: 1
Agility: 3
Runes:Unending Avarice: you can tell which loot is the most expensive and tradeable instantly, and can grab it as well. Pearls, money, fur coats, expensive champagne, and all things glamourous are magically attracted to your questing fingers.
Wallfish: a rune derived from snails you particularly enjoyed eating with pearls and vinegar. Better at avoiding damage when in or heading for cover.
Inventory: Duct Tape, nettles, crocuses, thorns,
Thorny and gothic katana
[Broom] - Roomba wrapped in rusty barbed wire.
[De-thorned Rose Wand]
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 6/6
Name: Sir Worthington the Fourth
Has a pretty crappy wooden broom for a leg.
Stats: Ritual Potency: 3
Practicality 3
Agility: -1 (wooden poles and plastic bristles do not a good leg make)
Inventory: £40,
[Glass Eye Pendant] [Paintbrush Wand]
{Financial Toad Demon Mucus}
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 5/5
Jimmy "Car bombs" Castanza
Slightly slowed by a heavy load.
Magical power boosted by Oligarchy rune.
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 3
Banal combat - 1
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 0
Practicality - 3
Inventory: £25, very rusty saw, length of pipe stuck to block of concrete, highlighter pen
Bag of old gold coins
[Lightbulb Antenna Wand]
[Broom] - Bike handles for steering.
Runes:
Detonation: volatile stuff explodes or catches fire more when you're around it. You can't help it, it must be genetic. Written rune used to detonate volatile substances.
Dead Man Running: you escaped the wrath of a mafia boss. Higher chance of surviving things that should really be deadly.
Mafioso: a mafia hitman, you preferred not to let your targets know they were hunted until after they were spread over an area of three hundred metres. Bonus to carefully planned unexpected attacks.
Alchemical (definitely idiot) savant: you saw an alchemist's shop when wandering around London, and deluded yourself that you understood something of how it worked. Because of the nature of magic, this belief is now partially true. Use this rune to make substances a bit more useful or volatile when used in alchemy.
Trader: a rune that when signed signifies to people that you'd be a good guy to buy from and sell things to.
Reticence: a rune whispered to you by birds perched on phone lines, you can get information without giving away much about yourself.
Bethel: a rune that enhances and aids summoning performed where it is written.
Degeneration: you saw men turned into animals. This rune turns advanced things like steel bolts into crappy primitive things, like wooden bolts.
Entrance: a god tried to break into our world. You now have a +2 in breaking into magic places you shouldn't be messing about with.
Hiijacking: Sand crashed a summoning-party and inserted herself into the centre of the ritual. Things with this rune written on will be more central to events and will conduct more power and magical energy than they should by rights.
Hassle: a rune that allows you to deal more effectively with multiple threats, distractions and tasks at once.
Scrap-crafting: after making a wand with bicycle horns, you have improved at making stuff out of junk. And you were already great at making stuff out of junk.
Oligarchy: a rune revealed to you the first time you flew over London, spelled out in the twistings of the financial buildings and the houses of millionares. Increases your power according to how much money you have.
Punctuality: You're good at getting things done on time.
Puissant clots: 2
Puissance:5/5
Ben Breeze
Stats:
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 0
Banal combat - 4
Aim - 1
Melee - 1
Agility - 2
Practicality - 0
Inventory: knife, taser, handcuffs, police baton, stab vest, torch, incapacitant spray, and a first aid kit. All in sports bag
Also a bag of athames, War Bacon (Vince's Fridge), a worn face-concealing hooded coat.
Four generous Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches
Gunfarmer P90 (45/50) (in bag)
Puissant clots: 3
Puissance:5/5
Name: Derrick
Marked by horrific burns.
Puissant fettle - 1
Banal combat - 2
Melee - 1
Agility - 1
Practicality - 2
Inventory: scrap metal spike, new katana and leather armor secured in crate
[Pocket Knife Wand] [Scrap Metal Shield Staff] - Where? You're unsure.
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 6/6
Author
Topic: COVEN: Gulled Goldsmiths and Lost Locomotives (Read 153579 times)